12 Feb Meet Andrew Wightman – Funeral Celebrant
I think I’ve always believed in the power of happenstance – that things often happen by pure coincidence.
Certainly, a lot of my career has been that way.
I left university determined to be an opera singer, and though I got into the Guildhall School of Music, I soon realised my life was not going to be on the operatic stage
But whilst there I worked with the drama department on a musical – which started the next of part of my career, from being in the chorus and gradually getting small parts in musical theatre. My favourite role was Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors” which I played in two different productions.
From there I was spotted in a show at the Wythenshawe Forum which led to a career in Childrens’ TV at Granada, for eight years on a pre-school kids show called “Allsorts”.
Most actors are often “resting” or out of work, and in my rest periods I worked behind the cameras, helping to find contestants on quiz shows, and then game shows, until I ended up as a Researcher on the wonderful “Stars in their Eyes”. By this time I’d ditched the acting, thinking I’d found something I was better at!
I wanted to stay put as a “contestant researcher” ( I just loved working with people in that area) but I was seen as producer material and by the beginning of the century I was producing shows like “Family Fortunes” and then back to my beloved “Stars” as one of the bosses.
I moved to London and started working there on big entertainment “shiny floor” shows. I made shows featuring the likes of Shane Richie, Barry Manilow and Elton John. I even worked on a couple of EastEnders Christmas Specials!
Then one day somebody phoned and asked if I liked travelling. I said yes I did. Did I like airports? Well, actually yes I did. They asked if I would I like to be their company’s Flying Producer. I’d heard about these “FP”s – consultants who travelled the globe rolling out local versions of particular formats. I thought it was a job for people who were about to retire. I was wrong. For the next 17 years I travelled to over 60 countries working on shows varying from Australian Secret Millionaire to Azerbaijan’s Got Talent
Then what? Well, one day a couple of years ago, a friend of mine said to me – “I think you’d make a really good celebrant”…. The idea had never occurred to me before. Sure, I’d been to several funeral services led by celebrants and I’d noticed that some were great whilst others seemed to miss the mark in one way or another – perhaps I’d thought in passing “I could do better than that”, but that’s just what retired actors often say!
Anyway, this was a light bulb moment for me – it really made me think – and the more I thought about it the more it felt like something I could really do. I asked my friend who works as a funeral director what he thought, he said he’d hire me tomorrow, quite a flattering endorsement! That was great…..but something to think about at some point in the future, once I was retired.
That very afternoon, I got a call from my boss and the HR rep to say they were looking for voluntary redundancies from our department.
It felt like a sign.
I did a celebrancy course which to me was largely common sense, but which most importantly introduced me to the world in which I now work and love. After 40 odd years of working, this is the job that has given me by the far the most fulfilment.
I’ve come to realise though, that my 40 years in work were a preparation, slowing giving me the skills that have transferred to my life as a celebrant.
As an actor I was performing in front of an audience (or perhaps a congregation?).
As a producer I was putting together a variety of content and making it into a stimulating programme.
As a consultant, I was listening to the challenges which my clients faced in making our formats into their programmes
So – listening, producing and performing – it’s really what a funeral celebrant does……with a large dose of care attached to that list.
There is nothing to match the feeling of having helped a family and friends prepare for and go through what is one of the darkest days of their lives – and to provide a fitting tribute to the person they have lost.
And it’s a feeling I want to have for many years to come!
